Day 198 Neglect

June 25, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project
during my 70th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each
day’s gift.)

Earlier this spring, I planted various seeds—giveaways
by our bank—in pots that were not big enough for the quantity of seed that I
planted. I don’t think I even read the directions. I kept the seed packet by
the pot so I would know what was growing but, after a number of rain showers,
the packets are unreadable. Guess you could say that I’m a lousy gardener.

My expectations are low so that when something
wonderful grows out of that neglected pot, I am surprised. I have no idea what
is growing in most of the pots but I do recognize the tallest plant that is
about to flower. Its broad, fuzzy leaves and stem and its radiating flower head
are proof. Now the question is can the pot sustain the sunflower until it fully
blooms?

It’s interesting how big things can grow from
little things. Sometimes that is bad, such as when a little lie turns into a
huge problem that becomes entangled in an inescapable web. Or when a few
sniffles grow into a full-blown nasty cold. However, sometimes it is good like
when I say a few kind words to someone and those words turn into a seed
that sprouts inside that person. It has happened to me. In high school, I had a 10th-grade English teacher who
told me that I should write more poetry, that I had a feel for language. Maybe
that was the encouragement I needed to become an English teacher myself.

Tomorrow when I awake, I will look out my back window and look
for my tall sunflower in its very small pot.